growing population of mechanical attendees rolls into the second Robodex exhibition.

Robots at this year's Robodex exhibition here did get their wires crossed--figuratively rather than literally--but failed to rampage as some observers had hoped.

Robodex is billed as the world's only exhibition of entertainment robots. It's just the second time the show has taken place (the previous one was in late 2000), and what a jump robot technology has made since then. Sony had its latest robot, the Sony Dream Robot (SDR) on display, dancing and crooning to some type of Hawaiian beat. Honda Motor's Asimo robot was also out to impress people.

As it walked down the center aisle at the finale of the robot show, Asimo bounced slightly from side to side with one hand waving in the air. In fact, Asimo looked as if it knew it was the man and was out trying to pick up any cute girl-robots that were around. Maybe the scent of flowers left by Posy, the flower-girl robot, stoked Asimo's libido.

Like Asimo, Posy is employed in a marketing role--successfully hawking luxury perfume from Guerlain. The metallic flower girl appears in a series of advertisements for a new perfume; according to the company, sales are up and things are going well. Still looking for work is Guard Robot C4 from Sogo Keibi Hosho, which can work as a receptionist during the day and as a security guard at night.